Pajaro residents discuss local issues at a Noticias Watsonville listening session at Casa de la Cultura in Pajaro on March 13. (Kara Meyberg Guzman — Santa Cruz Local)

Catalina Jaramillo Vergara is an editor with Noticias Watsonville. See her full bio below.

WATSONVILLE >> The week of March 9-15 was a very special week for Noticias Watsonville, Santa Cruz Local’s Spanish-language news platform covering Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley. To gather the information needed to shape our election coverage this year, our whole team — Nik Altenberg, Fidel M. Soto and myself — spent the week meeting people, asking them about the issues they’re struggling with and listening to their needs and dreams.  

We visited Raíces y Cariño, a local organization that provides a safe space for children and their caretakers and spoke with parents, community leaders and local entrepreneurs. We participated in two community meetings at Casa de la Cultura Center — a hub for Pajaro families led by Sister Rosa Dolores Rodriguez — where we engaged in genuine, open conversations with farmworking families in both Spanish and Mixtec. 

At Somos Watsonville, a free community coffee shop and safe haven for youth, we gathered about a dozen Watsonville High students to talk about issues they’re struggling with — thanks to Pastor Julianne Porras-Center’s support and the never-failing power of free pizza. 

We also spoke with dozens of people waiting in line at both the Esperanza Community Farms and the Center for Farmworker Families food and basic necessities distributions. We set up a table at the Watsonville Farmer’s Market, which happens every Friday afternoon at the main plaza, and talked with the families shopping, eating and playing there. And we mingled with people at restaurants, bars and at the Watsonville Film Festival. 

In total we interviewed 103 people, ages 15 to 72, including farmworkers, students, business owners, employees and caregivers. What did we hear the most? 

Economic pressure is the dominant concern. Almost everyone mentioned how difficult it was to make ends meet while their pay remains the same and the costs of everything else goes up, including rent, food, gas, utilities and other basic staples. 

“Everything goes up, except wages,” a woman who participated in our conversation with a Mixtec group told us in Spanish, after describing how inflation impacts the whole community. 

“Costs are high, a house is very expensive,” a farmworker and mother of four told me. She said finding a house for her family was hard, when rent can go for up to $3,000, not including bills. Income picking strawberries isn’t consistent, she said, and it depends on how many boxes you can pick in a day. “You have to save during the good times.” 

Education and family resources were also high priorities among the people we talked with, followed by safety — including the need for safe recreational spaces for families and kids, more police presence in their neighborhoods, improvements in road safety, and protection from the federal administration’s immigration policies. 

Noticias Watsonville editor Catalina Jaramillo speaks with a Pajaro resident at the Casa de la Cultura on March 13. (Kara Meyberg Guzman — Santa Cruz Local)

“Just seeing a Latino’s face is enough to get us arrested,” a woman told us, noting that the fear caused by President Donald Trump’s migration policies is carried by the entire community, including those who are U.S. citizens. “We’re even afraid to go to the store, and our children are afraid that we’ll take them to school but then not pick them up, and they wonder who will take care of them.”

Health is also a top concern. Several people we interviewed mentioned uncertainty about changes to health insurance. A mother of three said that an anticipated cost of $30 monthly for Medi-Cal coverage for undocumented residents set to begin next year will further strain her family’s tight budget. 

Farmworkers and parents said they were concerned about the health impacts of pesticide exposure while working in the fields and through water and air contamination. 

Many pointed to the scarcity of mental health resources as a critical issue — particularly for youth — as school counselor positions are being cut and  bullying, violence and self-harm continue to affect youth.

These conversations will fuel and inform our coverage and shape our People’s Agenda, a tool we’ll use to hold local candidates accountable to the people they serve. 

To everyone who shared their time and truth with us: thank you. We stay fiercely committed to providing you with the information you need and ensuring your voices reach the people who represent you and have the power to improve your lives.

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